Top-performing finance functions are keeping automation high on their agendas, but it’s just the start of a bigger push for performance. October 2019 The PwC Finance Benchmarking Report 2019-20 Contents Where do you want to begin? Forward 01 People Give finance teams new ways to use underutilised skills 02 Process Have a roadmap for finance effectiveness, not automation 06 Performance Drive insights with connected self-service financial data 10 Is your finance function cost efficient? Here’s how to know 14 Company profiles See how they’re doing it 16 Ready to start? Speak to our team 33 Your finance function is ready for change, are you? 1 Forward Industry convergence, changing business models, regulatory shifts, talent wars – all of these changes in the corporate environment necessitate a push toward a more modern finance function that can be ready for anything. We’re seeing CFOs challenge the very core of the functional operating model. They have a digital mind-set and focus their functional transformations where they’ll get results—with their people, their transactional processes, or straight to the heart of risk and business performance. Our insight, supported by analysis from company interviews and benchmarking data from more than 700 finance functions, shows how companies are making this shift in 2019. They’re including business thinking at every step. To accelerate your own progress, the only thing you need to do is ask the same questions they did. What business problems are we trying to solve? What needs to change and for whom? How much and at what speed? Then, based on your company’s culture, vision, and strategic goals, choose where to push. CFOs step up 5 of 6 steps to improve finance effectiveness are about people People 30-40% of time can be reduced with finance automation and behavior change Process 75% of business analysts’ time in top performing finance functions is spent on developing insight Performance